Gator spot

[gottafish]

What do you guys look for in a good spot for keepers? I have a boat and I will be taken it out to sturgon fish saterday. how deep should I fish for keepers? I have only been out by the fishery and we fish about 40 ft and I have yet to get a keeper, I am going out of chinook landing saturday and I hope to find some fish away from the crowds just because I am new and anchoring could be interesting. I have the anchor system and all with 300 feet of line This boat is 26 feet long and I am a newbee so I am kind of nerves, thats why I am not going to the fishery. any help getting me on fish would be great. thanks Rich

[Fshklr]

deleted by fshklr

[ 03-18-2004, 01:14 PM: Message edited by: Fshklr ]

[gottafish]

Dude, what up with dat [img]graemlins/1zhelp.gif[/img] pm me please I need the help. I don't want your spot persay I just would like to know what you look for on the fish finder Depth, structure, shelf , flats ?

[gottafish]

ttt

[Fisherfield]

I will not claim to know anything about catching Gators....but I have caught a few in my limited time looking for them. We fished the Willamette and caught one keeper for 15 fish we landed. 85-90 feet of water was where we were getting licked. According to my fishin buddy...look for a shelf...and fish the top of the shelf. They will be sitting there smelling for stuff that gets hung up on that shelf. Whole smelt was the ticket...with some really raunchy old scents.

I'm trying to think of a good place on the Columbia with that depth....try under the 205 bridge...it's super deep there...You might even end up hooking up with a Springer!!

[greenbuttskunk]

gottafish,sent you a pm

[gottafish]

I guess what I am trieing to find out is do keeper sturgon hange out at a certin depth or are they just anywhere :whazzup:

[My Limit]

I know the water can be quite swift around The Fishery and above so be careful when achoring and let out at least 3-4 times the amount of rope to depth.

With regards to catching sturgeon and keepers that's another story. I've been fishing sturgeon pretty hard for about 3 years now so I'm no expert. I have not found a direct corelation between certain depths and keepers. I know there is all kinds of theories though.

My best advise to you is to use your sonar to find a location where the bottom drops of with some type of ledge or decline. They say larger sturgeon are just beneath the ledge or drop-off where debri tends to form.

You can usually see the sturgeon if you have good sonar. If you don't see any activity along the bottom after being anchored for about one hour and you have not gotton any bites I would move.

I've had the best luck for keepers in the deeper holes 70-85 feet.

In general just find a place where you are catching shakers every 10 minutes or so and you are bound to get a keeper if any are around that smell the bait. Hope this helps.


Good Luck!

My Limit

[chummer]

GENERALLY, you'll look for fish in deeper pockets where they will be out of the current and the food supply is washed to them. However, we have found shallow flats of around 20' where we usually can pickup fish. These fish have freshwater clams in their bellies, which leads me to believe this is a clam bed. With a good depth finder you should be able to see fish near the bottom. As far as where to start looking, look where you see other anchored boats. It's no secret where fish are consistently hooked. Horsetail falls is one of those areas, so are the powerlines above chinook landing. Other places to look would be the wall,upriver from from rooster rock, the viewpoint down river from rooster rock. Water moves fairly fast in some of these locations, and you're in a big, heavy boat, so make sure you've got enough anchor and chain to keep you from dragging. You may have to run your kicker so you don't drag.